Civil registration in England and Wales begins on July 1 1837 and as a result of this commencement date, William Finch’s marriage to Elizabeth Gaskill in 1859 is the last point at which I have a ‘hard copy’ certificate for my Finch line.
This ‘hard copy’ states that William married Elizabeth Gaskill and that his father was a ‘John Finch’ who was a ‘stonemason’. As a result we can count backwards from Williams age at his marriage and begin to look around for a William Finch born in 1835 and this seems to bring us to a family in Standish with a John Finch where John has the required William Finch as a son and where John is a stonemason.
It seems reasonable to consider Standish as the home for William and his father, John, unless anyone can offer an alternative although it is clear that there is a reciprocal movement of Finch ancestors between Standish and its larger neighbour Wigan which had a preponderance of weaving and weavers.
The 1841 Census for Standish gives John’s age (as the father of the required William) and we can count backwards to the most likely John born in Standish. We also have the names of John’s wife given as Jane.
The choice of John is at the moment based on evidence and deductive reasoning although unsupported by secondary documentary evidence. I say that because the IGI is incomplete as is the Lancashire OPC although both resources are magnificent in their scope and ambition. We have to accept and acknowledge that if the records were complete then the story may leap out at us. We must also search for secondary evidence that either evidences what we believe to be the case or offers new and better alternatives.
The birth of John in 1804 lead us to his parents and here we have the IGI to help us with this
Event(s) for John Finch International Genealogical Index
Birth: 29 MAR 1804
Christening: 29 APR 1804 Wigan, Lancashire, England
Parents:
Father: WILLIAM FINCH
Mother: JANE HESWICK
However, we have a problem when we try to find the marriage of William and Jane in Standish a village which seems to be the epicentre of the Finch line. However, the IGI search throws up a number of Finch ‘possibles’
1. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Death: 25 MAR 1959
2. William Finch - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Death: 19 NOV 1930
3. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 23 NOV 1863 Cathedral, Manchester, Lancashire, England
4. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 18 DEC 1823 Prestwich, Lancashire, England
5. William Finch - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 24 APR 1570 Croston, Lancashire, England
6. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 16 JUL 1910 Adlington, Lancashire, England
7. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 25 MAY 1762 Hindley, Lancashire, England
8. William Finch - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 27 OCT 1886 Alston, Lancashire, England
9. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 12 JAN 1658 Wigan, Lancashire, England
10. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 29 DEC 1724 Wigan, Lancashire, England
11. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 07 NOV 1813 Wigan, Lancashire, England
12. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 24 APR 1570 Croston, Lancashire, England
13. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 24 APR 1570 Croston, Lancashire, England
14. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 28 APR 1806 Upholland, Lancashire, England
15. WILLIAM FINCH - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 02 JUN 1794 Saint Mary, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
The dates are,clearly, either too early or just too late and William Finch seems to have married someone with a name that is a problem for those recording events and may be confused with ‘Keathwich’, ‘Guestwick’ ‘Heswick’ and may originally be ‘Kissack’.
I offer Jane Kissack as an ancestor based on the Lancashire accent that may confuse the issue. We can see this issue of Lancastrian accent in the name ‘Henage’ which is also pronounced as ‘Enage’. We can also see William from Lancaster as a weaver and it seems entirely appropriate for William and his new wife to make their way to the growing town of Wigan and the nearby village of Standish. I am, however, impressed by the way that the IGI has so few matches for a ‘William Finch’ and a ‘Jane’.
The task seems to be to find secondary evidence for ‘John Finch’ who is also a stonemason in Standish. The evidence for a stonemason is limited so far and this may be the next source of information.
John Finch is intriguing in that we have evidence for him from the ‘hard copy’ and now we have to move backwards and evidence and demonstrate him and his parents in the generation that precedes him.
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